A winch for getting firewood

[Pruitt1222]

I have a mile marker hydro winch on my jeep, Runs on a seperate power steering pump. I have a hand throttle in the jeep, just idle it up to about 2200 rpm and it workes great. Super fast power in and out, has two speed trans(electric can't come close, over 30 feet a minute in high). Wireless remote and 12000 lbs to boot. Only problem I have incountered with it is when you kill the jeep and cant get it restarted while stuck in deep mud. I am a firm believer in this winch, like every one else has said. Once you get one you'll use it once or twice a month.

 

[clearance]

You could just buy some cable, good snatch blocks, and tree straps and use the truck as the winch . It would take some rigging but it would be much faster .
Truck winches are not designed for long sustained pulls , you will burn out the motor pretty fast using it that way, not to mention the battery or altenator won't keep up ( Hard pulls take 300-400 amps of continous power) .

I agree.

 

[JAL]

I agree.

+1 ...that's why I like my rope system.

 

[ms290]

Heres a solution:

If your powersteerin pump has a remote reservior put a gallon or two bigger side storage reserve on it and get your self a two way valve and some hydralic hose and fittings.

And then wa la you then have a high power wich that isnt going out when the going gets rough. I think the best part is is that you will have a faster pull than with an electric winch.

I recently broke the housing on my winch that is mounted to my dunebuggy-ish toy i drive around.

 

[BuddhaKat]

Here's a winch worth checking out. Supposed to be really high quality for under $300. 12,500 lb winch.

http://www.amazon.com/TUFF-STUFF-4x...ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1247623070&sr=8-1

 

[Pruitt1222]

forgot to add, Always buy a winch thats two times bigger then what you'll ever need. The reason I say this, if your winch has 4 wraps of spooled cable on it and its a 10000 pounded it only has 10000 pounds of pulling power with no cable on the spool. Once you add a wrap you lose 20% and 10-15% every wrap after that. So a 10000 pounder only pulls about 6000 pounds with four wraps on the drum. Always carry a snatch block if you do get a winch that way if you do have a short pull or a heavy pull you can get twice the power outta that hoss.

 

[ropensaddle]

Thanks! I think the winch is a 20,000 pound model... got it off of eBay for about $150, and went from there. It's only limited by the tractor it's attached to... it's got more than enough power to completely flip the tractor over backwards. I've got 100' of 7/16 cable on it... it makes recovering logs out of unreachable places easy. Right now it's still PTO powered, but I've already got a hydraulic motor out in the shop that I'm going to use to convert it to hydraulic drive. That will make reversing the winch much easier than it is with the PTO drive.

I would leave it pto hydraulic stalls just when you need more pull. I can shift mine into reverse it is a braden or tulsa winch also has a two speed pre-gear box to drive the main.

 

[ropensaddle]

forgot to add, Always buy a winch thats two times bigger then what you'll ever need. The reason I say this, if your winch has 4 wraps of spooled cable on it and its a 10000 pounded it only has 10000 pounds of pulling power with no cable on the spool. Once you add a wrap you lose 20% and 10-15% every wrap after that. So a 10000 pounder only pulls about 6000 pounds with four wraps on the drum. Always carry a snatch block if you do get a winch that way if you do have a short pull or a heavy pull you can get twice the power outta that hoss.

How is the amount of wrap going to effect pull power? Pull speed maybe but power I don't think so

 

[ropensaddle]

I agree.

For the op's use this is likely the best cheap fix, so I agree but my winch pulls all day and uses no amps:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[redprospector]

forgot to add, Always buy a winch thats two times bigger then what you'll ever need. The reason I say this, if your winch has 4 wraps of spooled cable on it and its a 10000 pounded it only has 10000 pounds of pulling power with no cable on the spool. Once you add a wrap you lose 20% and 10-15% every wrap after that. So a 10000 pounder only pulls about 6000 pounds with four wraps on the drum. Always carry a snatch block if you do get a winch that way if you do have a short pull or a heavy pull you can get twice the power outta that hoss.

You are correct sir.
I think of the winch drum as the final gear in the system. As you add wrap's to the drum its size increases, equaling less actual power.

Andy

 

[Pruitt1222]

How is the amount of wrap going to effect pull power? Pull speed maybe but power I don't think so

Well I am by no means a expert on this subject but got lots of winching time under my belt. The way I kinda take it is that a drag car with 30" slicks is quick outta the hole but the same car with 35" slicks is faster top end. Kinda the same thing. If a drum is 2" dia and as 4 wraps of 3/8 cable it is a 1 1/2 fatter, so that would be like a 30inch tire verses a 50 inch both running a 4:11 rear.

 

[ropensaddle]

You are correct sir.
I think of the winch drum as the final gear in the system. As you add wrap's to the drum its size increases, equaling less actual power.

Andy

My,my I have not noticed one bit of power loss with 300 foot of cable it is the same at 100 as it is 295 foot. Speed changes though.

 

[ropensaddle]

Well I am by no means a expert on this subject but got lots of winching time under my belt. The way I kinda take it is that a drag car with 30" slicks is quick outta the hole but the same car with 35" slicks is faster top end. Kinda the same thing. If a drum is 2" dia and as 4 wraps of 3/8 cable it is a 1 1/2 fatter, so that would be like a 30inch tire verses a 50 inch both running a 4:11 rear.

Ok so your assumption is the engine hp decreases with larger tire size?

 

[Pruitt1222]

Ok so your assumption is the engine hp decreases with tire size?[/QUOTE

Has nothing to do with the engine just the amout of torque at the wheels

 

[MontanaMan]

My,my I have not noticed one bit of power loss with 300 foot of cable it is the same at 100 as it is 295 foot. Speed changes though.

That's because you have such a monster huge winch with more than enough power to spare.

If you have a limited amount of power, you have to have smaller gears (smaller winch drum size).

Remember back to when you were riding your first 10-speed bike. When it was time to go up a hill, you geared down to the smaller chainring up front. That's like the winch drum being smaller when all the cable is played out. With the smaller drum, your speed is slower, so more power is devoted into each foot of cable being reeled in.

You're really lucky to have such an awesome winch you don't have to worry about that. Most guys here would kill to have a setup like that.

 

[ropensaddle]

Ok so your assumption is the engine hp decreases with tire size?[/QUOTE

Has nothing to do with the engine just the amout of torque at the wheels

My guess, that would be the same, speed would increase as greater distance per revolution changes the speed. I am getting your idea but power output should be the same but then it may likely be my winch is just big.

 

[ropensaddle]

That's because you have such a monster huge winch with more than enough power to spare.

If you have a limited amount of power, you have to have smaller gears (smaller winch drum size).

Remember back to when you were riding your first 10-speed bike. When it was time to go up a hill, you geared down to the smaller chainring up front. That's like the winch drum being smaller when all the cable is played out. With the smaller drum, your speed is slower, so more power is devoted into each foot of cable being reeled in.

You're really lucky to have such an awesome winch you don't have to worry about that. Most guys here would kill to have a setup like that.

Whoowa now guy's, it is a fine winch but heck before we get too serious, I am sure I can find another:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[MontanaMan]

I like to use ½” rope with a boat deck cleat mounted on a receiver hitch. The rope I use is rated for 9,500 and some times I just double it up for extra pull.

Where did you find a 9500 lb 1/2" rope? Can you tell me the brand name or something?

I like the simplicity of your solution ... rope is much easier to handle, and the idea of driving forward to pull the log, then back up, rewinding the rope to take out slack, repeat ... that's good for tight spots.

 

[MontanaMan]

Here's a winch worth checking out. Supposed to be really high quality for under $300. 12,500 lb winch.

http://www.amazon.com/TUFF-STUFF-4x...ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1247623070&sr=8-1

Even with shipping, it's still under $400. That's definitely the best deal I've seen for less than 400. Compared to the Gorilla, it has more powerful motor, more accessories, just seems better. I know the 4WDers love the TuffStuff brand too.

But for now, I'm kind of getting attached to the idea of starting with strong rope and snatch block.

 

[ropensaddle]

If rope is your poison look up at the top of this page and check out bailey's or wespur they have some nice rope. They actually have 1/2 rope capable of 34000 lbs amsteel blue but it is way expensive. Their is some in the 8000 plus that does not kill the account.

Just click the balloons and enter the store hope this helps!